The Wolf Inside - A Naruto Fanfic - Watty Award Winner 2013

Chapter 26

A thoughtful look crosses Kiba's face as he stares at me for a few moments in silence, before the boy shovels some more food into his mouth and rises from his seat.

"Take care of the bill guys" he chuckles, words barely legible as his cheeks bulge with food. "I'm out!"

Placing one hand on the sill, Kiba swiftly jumps through the window and lands beside me, with a frantic Akamaru hurriedly following his lead.

"Y-You're leaving us with the bill?" Hinata asks, sounding slightly distressed. "But you're the one wh-who invited us here...."

"I'll get it next time" Kiba assures his teammate, waving dismissively. "Promise."

"Doubtful...." Shino murmurs, to which Hinata's shoulders droop a little.

It seems even they can't rely on their energetic and loud mouthed team mate. I can't say I'm surprised by that though.

"Alright!" Kiba barks, swallowing his food and pumping one fist in the air. "Let's get on with it! This is gonna be great!"

"........I can't wait to punch you right in the mouth" I announce flatly, uncrossing my arms and turning on my heel to stalk away from the broadly grinning Inuzuka.

"Hey look" Kiba suddenly says, pointing up at a nearby tree, which looks as though it was shredded in a storm or something. "That's the tree that my Fang Over Fang destroyed the other day. I'd point out the dent you made in it with yours, but as you can see, I kinda broke the tree."

I pause in my walking and stare at Kiba with a deadpan expression, one eyebrow twitching.

In reality it hadn't taken us too long to get to the training grounds, but with Kiba's constant antics and joking around, it had felt like the longest journey of my life....

"Oh look" I reply, mocking the boy's tone, "This is the forest I beat you up in. And I'll be happy to do it again too!"

"You can act tough all you want Angel" Kiba scoffs, hands on his hips and a defiant look in his eyes, "But you came to me for help. I'm the Sensei today and you are the lowly student."

".........You know what?" I ask rhetorically, hands balling into fists as I struggle to control my temper. "I don't think I want to learn your Clan moves this badly. I'd say I'd rather be tortured, but you've already been torturing me!"

That being said, I whirl around and begin stomping back in the direction we'd just come in, only for Kiba to slide in front of me, waving his hands back and forth.

"Okay, okay" he says apologetically, though he's still grinning like an idiot. "I'm sorry, I'll stop now!"

I glower at the brunette for a few seconds, before closing my eyes and heaving a sigh, already feeling somewhat defeated. Kiba's presence drains my energy, more than anyone else's does.

"I get that you've got a really bad temper" the brunette continues casually, clearly oblivious to the murderous intent forming in my eyes, "So I'll stop teasing you about your weak Fang Over Fang and just show you how to amp up the power!"

"I've already seen how you do it" I state in a flat tone, causing Kiba to pause as he is about to flick a food pill down to Akamaru. "I don't want to see you do it again. I want you to explain how to do it."

"Explain it?" Kiba repeats, tilting his head to the side. "But, you already know how to do it. All you gotta do is learn to release the Jutsu properly to make it as strong as possible. Plus you're gonna have to learn to coordinate with that Wolf of yours, seeing as it's a partner Jutsu."